Tea at Trianon: The Greatest Political Comeback

John Wilson Croker on Marie-Antoinette

"We have followed the history of Marie Antoinette with the greatest diligence and scrupulosity. We have lived in those times. We have talked with some of her friends and some of her enemies; we have read, certainly not all, but hundreds of the libels written against her; and we have, in short, examined her life with– if we may be allowed to say so of ourselves– something of the accuracy of contemporaries, the diligence of inquirers, and the impartiality of historians, all combined; and we feel it our duty to declare, in as a solemn a manner as literature admits of, our well-matured opinion that every reproach against the morals of the queen was a gross calumny– that she was, as we have said, one of the purest of human beings."

~from History of the Guillotine by John Wilson Croker, 1844

Edmund Burke on Marie-Antoinette

"It is now sixteen or seventeen years since I saw the queen of France, then dauphiness, at Versailles; and surely there never lighted on this orb, which she hardly seemed to touch, a more delightful vision. I saw her just above the horizon, decorating and cheering the elevated sphere she had just begun to move in, glittering like a morning star full of life and splendor and joy. Oh, what a revolution....Little did I dream that I should have lived to see such disasters fall upon her, in a nation of gallant men, in a nation of men of honor and of cavaliers! I thought ten thousand swords must have leaped from their scabbards, to avenge even a look which threatened her with insult. But the age of chivalry is gone; that of sophisters, economists, and calculators has succeeded...."

~Edmund Burke, October 1790

Wednesday, November 6, 2024

The Greatest Political Comeback

From The Daily Wire:

Former President Donald Trump won the 2024 election, Decision Desk HQ predicts, completing what is likely the biggest political comeback in American history.
Despite suggestions that the race would be incredibly close, Trump took off with an early lead, quickly winning majorities in the key swing states of Georgia and North Carolina, and showing early dominance in Pennsylvania.
When the race was called just past 1:00 a.m. on the east coast, Trump had won three of seven swing states — Georgia, North Carolina, and Pennsylvania — putting him at 270 Electoral College votes. He is set to take the stage at his election night party early morning on Wednesday.
Campaign officials and advisers celebrated Trump’s victory late into the night on Tuesday and early Wednesday in West Palm Beach, Florida, at an election night party for the former and future president.
Trump, who also won the 2016 presidential election, will return to the White House after a four-year absence, after Harris and President Joe Biden won in 2020. (Read more.)